wisp

1: a thin bundle, bunch, tuft, streak, or the like, as of straw, hair, or smoke.A wisp of smoke from his cigarette twisted upwards to the ceiling.
She tucked the stray wisps of hair under her cap.

2: a thin or delicate person.We feared this tiny wisp of a child would perish from the cold.

3: a faint or fleeting trace or hint.She tried to appear unafraid, but a wisp of anxiety crossed her face when the phone rang.

transitive verb & intransitive verb

to twist (something) into, or form, a wisp or wisps.

This odd little yellow-faced woman, with a red handkerchief wispedround her head, and a singed grimness generally pervading her, handed over to him Minnie and Tom, casually remarking, “Bedad, it’s the big heavy lumps they are.”